Although the Huaxia army led by Li Yan besieged Li Zicheng's men and horses in the Kabul area, after repeated battles, the Huaxia army currently has only more than 16,000 people left.

This amount of troops was not enough to drain the siege of Kabul, so Li Yan still adopted the traditional Chinese siege method of "besieging three queyi".

The main force of the Huaxia Army was in the east of Kabul, and part of its forces were also deployed in the north-south direction.

On the west side, there were no troops at all, but only some sentinels.

This arrangement is not that Li Yan still remembers the old feelings, and deliberately wants to let Li become a way to live, but the terrain in Afghanistan is too complicated.

The Huaxia army also lacked heavy artillery to attack the city, and if it carried out a strong attack, even if Kabul was finally taken, the Huaxia army would definitely suffer heavy casualties.

Huaxia's troops in the Western Regions were originally not many, and if tens of thousands of people were lost in a war, the surrounding forces would definitely be ready to move.

Fortunately, after the seizure of India, the food problem has been alleviated to a great extent.

As long as the road from Ili to Delhi is built, food in the Western Regions will no longer be a problem.

It is much more convenient to transport grain from Delhi than from Xi'an.

The straight-line distance from Xi'an to Yili is 6,500 miles, and the actual road traveled along the way is more than 7,000 miles.

Less than a tenth of the food delivered along this road is delivered, and the amount of food consumed on the road is much higher than the quantity delivered.

Even though the Chinese Empire had surpassed the most powerful Central Plains Dynasty in history, the grain that could eventually reach Ili was still very limited.

This also greatly limited the number of Chinese immigrants to the Western Regions.

If there were more than a million Chinese immigrants in the Ili River Valley, they would be able to rule here for a long time.

For Huaxia, if they want to control the vast Central Asian region, they must first control three places.

The first is naturally the Ili River Valley, which is not only rich in water and grass, but also has huge mineral resources.

It controls Lake Balkhash in the north and borders the Tianshan Mountains in the east, and is the gateway from Central Asia to the Western Regions.

Therefore, Li Xianzhong set the capital of the Western Regions in Ili.

In his view, only by controlling the Ili River Valley can the security of the north and south roads of the Tianshan Mountains be truly guaranteed.

The second is Green Ridge.

This plateau of only 100,000 square kilometers is the only way to enter the southern Tien Shan road and India.

The average altitude is more than 4,500 meters, and the elevation of the main peaks in the territory exceeds 6,000 meters.

In the eyes of the Persians, this place, known as the "Pamirs", is the real roof of the world.

Once occupied, you can look down on the whole of Central Asia and the South Asian subcontinent.

The third place is Afghanistan.

It's easy to overlook this barren land full of mountains.

But Li Xianzhong knew that the location of this place, known as the "Graveyard of Empires", was extremely important.

Geographically, this mountainous region between the Pamirs and the Persian Plateau separates Central Asia to the north, Persia to the west, and the Indian subcontinent to the east.

Whoever occupies this place has the initiative to attack.

It is clear that Kabul is not just interested in the Chinese Empire.

The Persians in the west were equally interested in it.

The Safavid dynasty that rules the Persian region today is the Fourth Persian Empire.

This dynasty, founded by the Persians, was the fourth dynasty to completely unify the eastern and western parts of Persia after the Achaemenids, Parthians, and Sassanids.

In 1502, Ismaili established the Safavid dynasty in Persia, Ismaili established himself as the king of Persia, established the capital Tabriz, and in order to consolidate the new power, the Safavid dynasty declared Shia Islam as the state religion of Persia.

However, with the rise of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, the Safavid dynasty was challenged like never before.

The Safavid dynasty lost not only the valley of the two rivers but also the Transcaucasian region in the war with the Turks.

In 1585, the Turks captured Tabriz, the capital of the Safavid dynasty, and occupied it for almost 20 years.

The situation did not improve until 1587, when Abbas I succeeded to the throne.

He recognized that his army was no longer adapted to the needs of the new age of warfare, by which time the Ottomans had occupied Georgia and Armenia, while the Uzbeks had occupied Mashhad and Sistan in the east.

First, he reached a peace agreement with the Ottoman Empire in 1590, ceding the northwest to the Ottoman Empire.

With the help of the Englishman Robert Sherry and the vizier Alaverdi Khan, the Persian army developed from a tribal army to a new type of army equipped with muskets, bronze cannons, etc.

The formation of a salaried, professional army was aimed at counterbalancing the Kizelbaş fighters, overcoming local centrifugal tendencies, and strengthening centralization.

During the reign of Abbas I, the new army reached 37,000 men, while the number of Kizelbash warriors was reduced from 6 to 80,000 to 30,000. The Persian army was initially "modernized" in its military affairs.

These actions kicked off the famous Abbas I reforms.

After the situation stabilized, Abbas I moved the capital to Isfahan in central Persia in 1597.

He first waged war against the Uzbeks, and by 1602 he had recaptured Herat and Mashhad, reoccupied Khorasan, and reached Barihe. He then began to fight back against the Ottoman Empire, going through three wars, and by 1622 he was capturing Baghdad, Mosul and Diyarbakir and the Caucasus provinces.

In 1602 he expelled the Portuguese from Bahrain.

During the reign of Abbas I, the development of handicrafts and commerce was encouraged. In 1616, the British East India Company signed a treaty of commerce with the Safavid dynasty on the condition that it expel the Portuguese fleet in the waters of Hormuz, and the mainland port of Bandar Abbas became the center of trade between Persia and the East India Company in the Persian Gulf region.

With the help of the British navy, the Safavid dynasty recaptured Hormuz in the Persian Gulf in 1622.

During his reign, Abbas also sent missions to Western Europe, with Spain, Portugal, and the Holy Roman Empire sending ambassadors to the Safavids to trade or to seek counter-Ottoman Empire.

During the long reign of Abbas I, the Safavid dynasty reached its zenith, encompassing present-day Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

However, the great Persian emperor died 8 years ago.

The current emperor of the Safavid dynasty is his grandson, Safi.

The Mughal Empire had seized Kandahar, another important city in Afghanistan, from the Safavid dynasty three years earlier, leaving the Persians with almost complete loss of control over the region.

The turmoil in the Mughal Empire today has opened the eyes of the Persian emperor to the possibility of reoccupying Afghanistan or even annexing the Mughal Empire eastward.

On the other hand, the Safavid dynasty completed the re-emergence of the empire entirely with the support of the British East India Company.

It can be said that they are the spokesmen of the British in the Persian Gulf region.

It's just that the British themselves did not expect that the rise of the Chinese Empire would cause them to lose all of India.

As a result, the enemies of the Safavid dynasty changed from Ottoman Turkey to the Chinese Empire.

Now that Li Zicheng, who was supported by the Europeans, has almost been beaten down by the Chinese, their master, the East India Company, naturally cannot sit idly by.

Driven by the desire for territory and the British masters, the Persian emperor Safi decided to send the governor of Khorasan, Gemanig, to Kabul with an army of 30,000.

Although the new army formed by the Safavid Dynasty has completed the firearms of the army, the number of the new army is only 50,000, and the old army of the entire empire is still as high as 150,000.

Now that the Ottoman Empire is also on the verge of making a move, it has threatened the security of Baghdad, so although Safi has the intention of expanding eastward, he does not dare to invest too many troops.

Of the 30,000 men led by Manig, 10,000 were new troops armed with new muskets, and 20,000 were old ones.

Their sudden arrival upset the balance of the battlefield.

Although the Chinese army, which was already equipped with "Qianxi 1635", was not afraid of these Persians.

But for the sake of safety, Li Yan still decided not to rush into war first.

After all, the current Huaxia army around Kabul has only 16,000 people, and it is not advantageous in terms of troops.

So he decided to temporarily lift the siege of Kabul.

While holding on to the camp east of Kabul, he sent people to report the latest situation to Li Shizu.

At this time, Li Shizu was leading 50,000 main forces from Kandahar to the north, which was three or four days away from Kabul.

He sent Zheng Sen to Kabul ahead of schedule to report the news.

After learning of the arrival of the Persians, Zheng Sen was also taken aback.

Li Yan said: "It seems that the Intelligence Department must establish its own intelligence network in the Persian Gulf as soon as possible, otherwise we will be very passive!" ”

As Zheng Zhilong's eldest son, Zheng Sen knew that the Intelligence Department had already begun to buy some Europeans as his spies.

In the name of doing business, these people began to lay down the intelligence network in China.

However, their main targets were the British and Dutch East India Company, not the Persians and Turks.

It is clear that the Intelligence Department has not been able to keep up with the pace of Huaxia's expansion.

At this time, Zheng Sen said: "There are still a few days before the main force of the second prince arrives here, and we have to confuse the Persians." ”

Soon Zheng Sen came to the Persian camp as an envoy from China.

Since the "Battle of Talas" between the Tang Empire and the Arab Empire in 751 AD, the Han cavalry has not crossed the Green Mountains for nearly 900 years.

The Persians' perception of the East was limited to the Ming Dynasty, and Manig was completely ignorant of the fact that his neighbors, the Yarkand Khanate and the Mughal Empire, had been annexed by China.

It is clear that their British masters did not tell the truth.

Naturally, Manig didn't know what a powerful empire he was up against.

Especially after Li Yan took the initiative to withdraw from Kabul, it made him feel that the Chinese people did not dare to confront them head-on!

Facing Zheng Sen, he said in a loud voice: "The great Persian Emperor Safi, I have come to recover Kabul, and if you Chinese people don't want to shed blood, please withdraw from Afghanistan!" ”

After hearing Manig's words, Zheng Sen smiled secretly.

I thought that these Persians really had other plans, and it was absolutely impossible for them to just help Li Zicheng!

Zheng Sen said: "There is no problem at all in handing over Kabul to the Persian Empire, and the governor of Manig should know that Li Zicheng is a traitor to the Chinese Empire." ”

"The main purpose of Huaxia's dispatch of troops this time is to capture Li Zicheng and dedicate him to the emperor of Huaxia."

"As for Kabul, if Governor Manig can help us capture Li Zicheng, why not hand Kabul over to Persia?"

Looking at Manig, who was a little dazed, Zheng Sen continued: "Governor Manig can enter Kabul in the name of supporting Li Zicheng and take the opportunity to take it. ”

"As long as you can capture Li Zicheng, a traitor, for us, we can not only get Afghanistan, but also gain the friendship of the Chinese Empire."

Manig said: "After I hand over Li Zicheng, is Huaxia really willing to give up the entire Afghan region? ”

Zheng Sen said: "I am the special envoy of Li Shizu, the second prince of China, and I can sign the credentials with Persia on behalf of His Royal Highness the second prince. As long as you get Li Zi into the hands of Huaxia, we will withdraw not only from Kabul, but also from Kandahar, and give the whole of Afghanistan to Persia. ”

Manig's original plan was to join forces with Li Zicheng to defeat the Chinese, and then seize the opportunity to seize Kabul.

This plan is to defeat the Chinese first, and then Li Zicheng.

In the end, it will completely offend the Chinese Empire.

Even if he despised the Huaxia Empire again, he didn't dare to underestimate them after learning that Huaxia had already controlled the Mughal Empire and the Yarkand Khanate.

The Mughal Empire alone was already equal to the territory of the Safavids.

Now he only needs to find a way to sneak into Kabul first, and then take Li Zicheng to achieve this goal, which is obviously more attractive.

Even if the Chinese turned their faces and refused to admit it, Kabul was already in his hands by then, and he did not have much to lose.

So Manig agreed.

However, Li Zicheng was not stupid, although he was very excited after the arrival of reinforcements from the Persians.

But he did not agree with the main forces of the Persians entering Kabul.

On the grounds of the city's crampedness, he demanded that the main Persian forces be stationed outside the city to form a rivalry with him.

He said: "The main force of the Chinese people has already moved north from Kandahar in the south and will soon reach Kabul, and we should now destroy this Chinese army outside the city before the main force of the Chinese army arrives." ”

Manig was annoyed by the fact that the Persian army could not enter Kabul, believing that Li Zicheng had no respect for the Persian Empire at all.

So the two sides broke up unhappily.

At this time, even if Li Zicheng was stupid, he could see that the Persians would not send troops in vain.

He could only ask the British to come forward and make peace, and Li Zicheng promised that once the Chinese were repulsed, he would cede a large part of the territory of the Indus Valley to the south to the Persian Empire as a reward for their help in this expedition.

With the help of his British masters, Manig was once again shaken.

Compared to impoverished Afghanistan, the apparently rich Indus Valley is more attractive.

The Persians finally agreed to send troops to defeat the Chinese.

This tripartite alliance of European mercenaries, Li Zicheng and the Persians, finally launched an attack on the Huaxia camp outside the city.

However, what they didn't expect was that the Huaxia people actually built a complete fortification with cement in just two days.

Even in the face of the British's 18-pounder Red Cannons, these fortifications were unscathed!

However, at this time, Li Zicheng's coalition army was more than 50,000 people, and they naturally would not give up.

Soon they made the decision to attack!

A fierce battle has begun!

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(End of chapter)